Blind Students, Special Needs, and Mathematics Learning

Abstract

Blindness, in itself, does not seem to be an impediment to learning mathematics. Indeed, history shows that there have been a number of very successful blind mathematicians, perhaps the most well known being Euler (1707–1783), who became blind in the latter part of his life, and Saunderson (1682–1739) who lost his sight during his first year. Jackson (2002), in his consideration of the work of these and more contemporary blind mathematicians, suggests that the lack of access to the visual field does not diminish a person’s ability to visualize – but modifies it, since spatial imagination amongst those who do not see with their eyes relies on tactile and auditory activity. This would suggest that to understand the learning processes of blind mathematics learners, it is important to investigate how the particular ways in which they access and process information shapes their mathematical knowledge and the learning trajectories through which it is attained.